In numbered days
by StreetlightsAndRaindrops
Summary: It's the start of the summer holidays, and Leon has moved from Hong Kong with his family so that Yao can be with his long term partner in England. Arthur owns a tea lounge that Emil frequents, and he takes a liking to the new boy. Ships in this fic are: HongIce, IggyChu, DenNor, so far.
1. Lucky Streak

**Another fanfiction, yes I know, I should be updating the ones that I'm in the middle of, but I just got this crazy cool idea, and I want to write the story for it, because in less than a week, I think I pretty much created its entire plot. And so, because of that, I really, really need to start writing it.**

It'd been a week since Leon had moved to England. He moved here with his older sister, and younger brother, and his father. He'd been living in Hong Kong with them for a long time, but Arthur, Yao's partner, decided that he couldn't handle the distance, and he'd been saving to buy the property over his tea lounge, and so he invited them to stay.

Yao would have been hesitant, but Leon had only recently been out of hospital due to a cold developing into a chest infection, developing into pneumonia. The city air had been affecting him badly, and so he thought it would not just be in the interest of his relationship to move, but also his children's health.

Leon had decided, along with Mei, to help in the tea lounge, as they both wanted the money. Yong, however, decided he wanted to spend his entire summer on his computer, because he didn't want to miss various tournaments.

He was leaning against the counter when the white haired boy walked in. He was tallish, and a little surly looking, but Leon was instantly smitten. Of course it wasn't love, but good god it was something. Leon walked over to him, notebook and pencil in hand "Can I take your order?" he asked. He'd rehearsed this line a few times, as English wasn't really his favourite language.

"I'll just have my usual." He said casually, looking up at Leon and noticing his hesitation. Of course, he'd not seen this person here before, they must have been new "Coffee, with whipped cream." He told him "You could put some marshmallows in there if you like… no big deal though." He said.

Leon could have swooned. This guy was adorable. It was so obvious he was trying hard to be mature and cool, but oh gosh he wasn't and it was the cutest thing "One coffee, with whip and marshmallow…" Leon said to himself mainly, writing the order down carefully. He disliked writing orders in English, but Yao and Arthur both said that he'd be better off to do it.

"Yeah, that's right." He said, opening up his laptop absentmindedly.

Leon nodded and walked away, back to Mei who was at the counter, currently just wiping it clean, unsure of what else to do, as there were no new customers to serve, or tables to clear "Did you see the guy at table 5?" he asked, switching to speak Chinese, more comfortable conversing in it "I might need my inhaler, because he took my breath away~" he said, leaning against the counter.

"Ugh, you're disgusting when you're in love…" she said, joking slightly.

"No, but seriously, I need my inhaler, where did I put it down last?" he told her after a moment. Leon just so happened to be the youngest diagnosed sufferer of emphysema. According to doctors, one of his genetic parents must have had the defective gene he also carried, making it more of a risk at a young age, and that mixed with breathing in a lot of the city air, caused him to have the lungs of an old man.

"Dork…" she laughed at him a little "It's by the coffee maker." She said "Would it kill you to just, oh I don't know, leave it in your pocket?"

Leon walked around to pick it up and take it. He tucked it into his trouser pocket after "But it sticks out funny, look." He said, pointing at it.

"Oh no~" she begun sarcastically "Who cares about being hospitalized when your inhaler sticks out of your jeans~"

"You're just mean." He said. He decided to accidentally just make the boy on table 5 a hot chocolate, and even put a little chocolate stirrer in there, to make it better. If he complained, he'd make a coffee, but really it sounded like he wanted a hot chocolate anyway.

Leon walked over to him, hoping to speak with him more, but not even sure what to say to him. He put the 'coffee' down on the table "I put chocolate stirrer for you." He said, pointing at it "I thought you might like."

"Yeah, sounds cool." He nodded "My name's Emil, by the way, which you should remember, because I come here a lot." He said.

"Emil…" Leon said, more to himself, than Emil, seeing how his name felt to say.

Emil nodded "Yeah, I'd ask your name, but you have a badge. Hello, Leon." He said with a slight smirk to the Asian boy.

"Yes, hello." he said. He couldn't tell if Emil was flirting or not, because people didn't really flirt with him ever. Leon missed a lot of school, and when he _was_ in, usually he was just sat at the back of the class, coughing or wheezing, and no-one really seemed to want to date the scrawny boy who was always sick.

"Ooh, real smooth~" Emil said with a slight laugh "You sound Chinese?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, I am moving here last week." Leon told him.

Emil nodded, wondering if it would be creepy to ask him when he got off work, because this guy seemed pretty cute, and he'd been watching him idly when he was talking to the girl at the counter, and it was pretty obvious.

"Hey, when do you get off work?" He asked, deciding to just shoot him the question.

Leon hesitated for a moment, bouncing on his toes slightly "I-I will check." He said, quickly rushing over to Mei "Mei Mei Mei Mei Mei, when do I finish work?" he asked, breathlessly.

"Um… in half an hour?" she said "Calm down, you're gonna cough all over the customers if you keep that up." She told him, as he took his inhaler again.

"Kay, thanks." He said, walking back "I finish in the half hour." He said, leaning against the table, trying to look cool.

"Well, I might stick around then~" Emil said, smiling a little at him "Perhaps you want to come over to my place or something." He said.

Leon nodded, not sure what to say, just wheezing gently and staring at him "Yes. Yes that sound good." He said after a moment.

Emil nodded, smirking to himself. This guy was adorable "Okay then. I'll just wait here until you're done working. This hot chocolate will last me." Leon nodded and walked away, back to the counter where Mei was.

He didn't end up doing much for that half hour. Mei put him in charge of the till, because she thought he looked out of breath. Not many customers came to him anyway, so he spent a majority of the time just soaking up the atmosphere.

People watching was one of Leon's favourite things to do. He never had that many friends, so it was a good thing he enjoyed it too. People would walk in and out, and talk and laugh and eat and drink and it was nice. The tea lounge was a good size too; it was filled with plush sofas, armchairs and stools at dark wooden tables of varying sizes. At that moment, it was relatively full. The time was about three o'clock, and it was in the summer holidays, and so there were a fair few students there.

The air smelled of coffee and cake, and it was wonderful. Leon could have spent hours just sitting there, sipping the tea Mei brought to him, watching people walking in and out, and occasionally taking their bills. He spent half his time watching Emil though. It looked like he was playing a computer game, but Leon couldn't see the screen, so he didn't know what the game really was. He wondered why he came here just for 'coffee' and to play video games. Perhaps he had trouble at home, or just liked coffee shops, like Leon was growing to.

When the half hour was up, Leon walked over to Emil "My shift is over." He told him, clearing his throat "Should we go then?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll just put my stuff away." Emil said, closing his laptop and putting it in his bag, before standing up to leave, and slinging his rucksack onto his back.

The two of them started to walk out of the lounge and towards Emil's house. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before Leon was getting out of breath. He didn't want to make Emil stop, but he was starting to get a little light headed, and he really needed a minute to lean against something.

"You okay there?" Emil asked, noticing Leon's wheezing and slower walking.

"Yeah…" he said, stopping, and leaning against the wall of the building to his left "I get tired…" he said, breathlessly. He felt a little colour rise in his cheeks; this kind of thing was always really embarrassing, because people would always worry so much, and treat him like he was made of glass afterwards, and he all he wanted to was to be treated normally by people.

"That's some really bad asthma…" Emil said with a short laugh, trying to make light of the situation and not panic that's they'd walked a maximum of 300 yards, and that shouldn't have been exhausting.

"Emphysema…" Leon corrected him, looking away, still getting his breath back "I have old man lungs." He told Emil "Youngest diagnosed person with it is me." He said, with a slightly bitter laugh.

"Oh hey… I think my grandpa has that?" Emil suggested, not really sure what it was, but knew that it probably wasn't good "Are you okay anyway?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just need my inhaler." He said, fumbling in his pocket. He was planning on being cool and not needing it, but if he didn't take it then, he'd probably end up blacking out. Leon pulled his inhaler out of his pocket and took it, before leaning away from the wall "Let's keep going."

"You sure?" Emil said, looking doubtful "You look kind of… peaky…" he said "I can take you back…" he suggested, feeling kind of bad for inviting him out now.

"No, no, I'm sick of not doing things." He said "Just like… give me your hand… I need to lean on you a bit…"

"No homo…" Emil said, offering him his hand. Leon took his hand, not really understanding what he just said, and started walking again. Emil felt a bit awkward holding his hand; not because he didn't want to, just because he didn't know if Leon even wanted him to for the same reason. To be honest, he was concerned, but he was trying not to look it, as constantly having people being concerned must have been really quite irritating.

Eventually they reached Emil's house "I live here with my brother." He said "So it's pretty small. Hasn't even got a second floor or anything." He fumbled in his pockets for a moment, before plucking out his keys and unlocking the door.

Walking into the bungalow, Leon thought it smelt vaguely of butter, coffee and fish, and that it was very neat. The walls were a calming light blue colour, and the carpet looked soft and relatively new. Some of the sideboards had figurines of puffins, or whales, or other china figurines on them.

Leon took off his shoes, following suit, as Emil had taken his off first, and followed him across the hall to a bedroom that he assumed was Emil's. There was a bed on the far side of the room, by the window, with plain sheets, and blue drapes. There was a computer on a desk on the left side, and a wardrobe on the right. The desk had a few used mugs on it, and a few empty sweet wrappers.

"Well, this is home." Emil said, flopping onto his bed.

"You have a nice house." Leon said, sitting beside him, glad to sit down again. His legs were really aching now. He'd probably call Yao to pick him up in the car, even though really for anyone else, it was perfectly good walking distance from his home.

"Thanks, my parents are paying for it." Emil told him "They live back in Norway, but Lukas wanted to come to England to study, and they thought that I'd be better off at school here, because England's more well-known than Norway, and saying "I went to a university in London, sounds better than saying I went to university in Oslo."

"Where's Oslo?" Leon asked, feeling kind of stupid "Or… Norway…" he said "I am not English as my first language." Leon told him awkwardly, knowing that he probably needed to work on his English. Sometimes he was fine, but at other times, he had trouble making whole sentences.

"Oh boy…" Emil said, with a slight sigh "I kind of guessed anyway, and uh, Norway is… You got google maps on your phone?" he asked, not sure of any other way to show him.

Leon nodded and got it open. All the writing was in Chinese, which made Emil groan in a little exasperation. He leant against Leon, reaching a hand over to the phone in his lap, dragging the map, feeling Leon's warmth against him, and his harsh bones. He dragged the map, to show Norway, and pointed at it. "That's Norway." He said, and zoomed in a little "And this place here, this is Oslo."

Leon nodded, zooming the map out, his finger brushing against Emil's gently. He liked the feeling of the other, almost draped over him. It was comforting somehow, and nice to have someone who wasn't in his family, be comfortable enough to lean against him without fear of breaking him. He nodded to himself, so that was where it was "I was living in Hong Kong." He told Emil "Moving here last week."

"Yeah, you said, I think." Emil said, nodding "Did you like it there?"

"I guess?" he said, shrugging "I am ill a lot, so I don't go outside so much." He told Emil "More when I am younger. I am playing out in the smog without a mask."

"That sounds kind of stupid." Emil said, patting his back awkwardly "But like… tell me what you _do_ know, I mean you've got to have seen more of the city than I have."

"Okay…" he said thinking "There are lots of people," He started "and it's always bright, even at night. All the buildings are very tall, and there's a Disneyland on the way to the airport. Oh, also there was a big duck on the water a while ago." He said, that being all he could think of at the time.

Emil nodded "Yeah, I think I heard of the duck." He said "I didn't know about the Disneyland though." he said, sounding suitably impressed "I guess there are a lot of tourists too?"

"Yeah; they have cameras, and are loud." He said, nodding.

"So like… why did you move over here? Just wondering and stuff." Emil asked, hoping to seem interested, and not seem like he was prying.

"Ba didn't want to for a while, and told Dad that he was staying for work." Leon started "But then I got sick, and after I came out of hospital, he said he wanted to get away from the city."

"So your Ba's like your mum? Why did they live so far apart?"

"No, no Ba is Chinese for Dad. I have two." He said "I'm adopted, like Mei and Yong." Leon told him "They meet at a thing; I can't remember, but they both need to stay living where they are. Dad has tea lounge, and Ba had his job."

"Oh, right, fair enough, fair enough." He said. What was the casual way to bring up 'are you gay?' in conversation. At least he knew he wouldn't have a problem with homosexuality, which was indeed a relief.

"Are you starting collage this term?" Emil asked curiously, wondering if they were the same age.

"I think so, yes?" Leon answered slightly unsurely "I'm taking Maths and Business." He told him.

"Only two subjects?" Emil asked dubiously. Most people took three as a minimum.

"Yeah… I am missing a lot of school." He said "And so Ba said only take two, but get good marks."

"Fair enough, fair enough." Emil nodded, still leaning against him, not sure if he should have moved, or just stayed there. Leon didn't seem to mind, so he just continued to lean against him "I'm taking Biology, Art and Maths." He told him "So I might see you in class and stuff."

"That'd be cool." Leon said, with a slight smile "I am like friends." He said "Most people are kind of scared to touch me before…" he said awkwardly "They thinking I would like… break or something, or give them what I have. It's isn't contagious though." Leon told him "Genetic and stuff."

"That sounds like it sucks." Emil said "You seem like a cool guy, so those people were just missing out and stuff, y'know?"

"Yeah, that's what Ba says." Leon told him, nodding "You are very nice for having me in your house."

"Yeah, well, I could see you giving me the eyes from the counter~" Emil told him, nudging his side a little "Like what you see?"

Leon blushed slightly "Ah yes, I like watching people." He said "Are you… flirting?" he asked, not sure if he was or not. It was really hard to judge these things when he didn't have much life experience with it.

"Only if you want me to be?" Emil said, slightly cautiously "Do you want me to flirt with you?" he asked.

"I-I don't mind." He said "I just I am no experience." He told him "So you have to say."

"Well then yes, I am flirting with you." Emil told him, this time a little more certainly "Do I have to do all the work, or are you going to hit on be back?" he asked after a moment.

"Um…" he said, trying to think of something to say "You have eyes…" he said "And they are nice?" Leon gave him a slightly awkward smile.

"Nah, that's not gonna cut it, try again~" Emil smirked, enjoying this a little. It was fun to watch Leon struggle a little, and joke, and he figured, Leon'd probably enjoy being treated like a person and not an illness by someone other than a family member.

"Okay… do you come here often?" he tried.

Emil laughed for a moment "Yes, I do, this happens to be my house, try again~ I'm not swooning yet~"

Leon smiled a little to himself "Have you seen my inhaler, because you take my breath away~" he said, trying to mimic Emil's tone. Emil smiled at that, thinking it was good enough.

"Yeah, that'll do~" he said, pecking him on the cheek quickly, hoping for a good response.

Leon wasn't sure what he was meant to do, so he just pecked Emil back on the cheek, hoping that that was what he was meant to do. He'd never even had anyone be interested in him, and although he had friends, he didn't see much of them, and it was always awkward, so this was really nice.

Emil smiled a little more "We _could_ kiss properly, you know…" he said, his face heating up a little. Maybe he was rushing it with this guy, but he just seemed really nice, and he was cute, if a little scrawny.

Leon's eyes widened a little "Well… if you want to… I mean… are you wanting dating?" he asked with a little uncertainty "Or is this just what you do?"

Emil looked puzzled for a moment "Oh, yeah, dating's cool." He said "Nah, I just thought you seemed interested, and you seem pretty cute."

"I'm not cute… I'm manly." Leon said, laughing slightly at the fact that he certainly wasn't manly in any sense of the word, other than owning a penis.

"Oh sure, and I'm a world famous wrestler~" Emil joked "So is this some kind of weird, round-about way of asking me out?"

"For dating?" Leon asked, making sure he got the meaning right. Suddenly he felt incredibly self-conscious. Was he meant to be doing something else? Was he doing everything right? Was he breathing too quickly? Did his breath smell? Emil was still draping himself over him, and what was he meant to do? Leon didn't know if he was meant to be kissing him, or flirting more, or hugging him, or any of the other possibilities.

"For dating, yes." Emil told him, looking him in the eye, turning Leon's head to look at him better, their faces close enough together to feel the other's breath "Do you _want _to kiss?" he asked, wanting to make sure he didn't surprise him.

"I have no problem." He said "I am not experience though." He said "Not sure what to do really."

"Just… let me take the lead then." Emil told him, kissing him on the lips softly, hoping Leon would catch on.

The kiss was wet, in Leon's opinion, and he wasn't really sure what to do. He shifted to face Emil better, and closed his eyes, because Emil's eyes were closed, and so maybe that was what he was meant to do as well. After a little while, Leon was starting to get more used to it, kissing Emil with a little more effort than letting him do all the work.

Leon broke the kiss reluctantly, because he needed to breathe "One sec…" he said, slightly breathlessly.

"No worries…" Emil told him. His hands had found their way to Leon's waist, and he was a little concerned at how little there was of it, but he didn't comment. Generally on a list of things to do to make someone happy, pointing out their physical flaws was not one of them.

Leon moved in to kissing him again, once he'd gotten his breath back. He shuffled closer to Emil, looping his arms around his shoulders. Something about this just felt right, he thought to himself; there was something inherently wonderful about kissing this boy. He wanted to press himself against Emil's warm body, feel Emil's mouth on his neck, and this feeling was so alien, yet so pleasant, and he didn't want it to end.

However, as like life, all good things come to an end, and he had to break the kiss again "I really like kissing you." Leon told him breathlessly, his hands sliding down Emil's sides, and trailing one hand back to get his inhaler "Too cool…" he mumbled, colour in his cheeks as he took it "Can we lay down?" he asked, just wanting to lay down, curled up into Emil's soft warmth.

"Uh, yeah, sure." He said, nodding and laying back on the bed, patting the bit of bed beside him invitingly, turning onto his side to face him. Leon laid beside him, moving close and burying his face into his chest, winding an arm around him "You're too cute to live…" Emil mumbled, putting an arm around him, resting it on Leon's head, stroking his hair through his fingers.

"Nah, I'm a manly man…" Leon mumbled into his chest. He was the kind of person to, if given the opportunity, let himself be babied. Obviously he wouldn't to everyone, but it the opportunity occurred, he didn't mind. Emil seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn't mind; true, he wouldn't mollycoddle him the way Yao did, but he didn't really expect him to anyway.

"Just… don't fall asleep on me." Emil said, petting his hair "Do you do this with everyone that kisses you?"

"I guess?" he said "You'd be the first anywhere… way." Leon said contently

**And that's the end of the first chapter! Please review it, because I really do appreciate every one that I get! I have an entire plot ready for this fic, and so I'm hoping this'll be a good story~ **

**QUESTION TIME! (Seriously if you answer these, my day will be more than made.) **

**Why does Emil go to the tea lounge so often anyway?**

**What will Arthur and Yao think of the relationship?**

**What are your weather predictions for this summer?**

**What should their first date be?**

**Will Leon ever get better at English?**


	2. Mistakes

**It's been far too long since I last updated this story, which is annoying! I'm going to try to update more quickly, but I'm sorry if I don't! I have the plot for this story completely thought out, so hopefully I'll just be able to write lots of chapters and stuff! This chapter ends up being pretty dramatic~**

Although Emil specifically requested that Leon not fall asleep on him, apparently that's exactly what happened, the Asian boy, snoring gently, beside him on the bed. Emil took the time to look at him, like really look at him. Leon's hair soft and silky looking, half over his sleeping face, strands reflecting the light given out by his lamp. His skin looked like it'd been tanned but paled over time, probably from being indoors a lot. His lips were a little chapped; Emil made a mental note to get him a glass of water when he woke up.

Emil found it a little difficult not to notice how bony Leon was, his cheekbones protruding a little, and his collarbones showing more than was probably healthy. It was hard not to notice his chest wheezing, and the general labour in his breathing. Still, Emil thought, it wasn't really his place to do anything about it. It wasn't Leon's fault, and he couldn't help those things, or fix them in under five minutes. Emil didn't really feel sleepy, maybe it was all the sugar in his hot chocolate, but all he could do was watch the other sleep. He didn't want to move, because he was worried to wake him. Leon's arms were holding onto him, which although he could get out of them, he didn't want to wake him. The bags under Leon's eyes said he was tired.

Eventually, he did wake up, blinking and squinting in the light, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands "I think I sleep…" he mumbled, yawning.

"Yeah, even though I told you not to~" Emil joked, ruffling his hair gently "Hey, I'll go get some water or something." The Icelander sat up, a slight smile on his face.

"Sounds good." Leon said, nodding, staying laid down on the other's bed, watching him as he stood up and padded out of the room. There was a part of Leon what wondered why on earth someone like Emil would like someone like him anyway, and what the other possibly had to gain from this.

Emil padded into the kitchen, seeing Lukas also in there "Hey there, Lukas." Emil nodded at his brother getting a couple of glasses from the cabinet.

"Don't worry, Emil, I'm not thirsty, I just had some coffee." Lukas commented, noticing the second glass, as he finished his coffee in one last sip.

"It's not for you anyway." Emil told him, pouting "I have a friend over."

"A friend?" Lukas questioned "Finally!"

"Oh my god, stop making it sound like I've never made friends before, Lukas…" Emil grumbled, filling the glasses with water.

"Lars doesn't count, Emil." Lukas said, frowning a little "And you know I don't like you talking to him."

"I know, I know…" he sighed. Emil and Lars had been together at one point; when Lukas found out, he was furious. Lars was a lot older than Emil at the time, and he was disgusted by it "Leon is my age anyway, so don't get your kickers in a twist." Emil huffed.

"That's good." Lukas nodded "Just remember to use protection, little brother."

"I'm not sleeping with him, jeez!" Emil exclaimed, his face heating up "We only just met, and I learned that lesson the first time!"

"That was _not_ a fun doctor's visit."

"No, it was not, let's stop talking about it. I learned my lesson; I'm being careful." Emil huffed "And who's to say that I even think of him like that?"

"I just know these things, Emil. Anyway, you have fun with your friend." Lukas walked out of the kitchen to watch some television, or read a book, either way Emil didn't really care.

He walked back to his room with the water, seeing Leon now sitting up on his bed, leaning against the headboard "I got water." He said, sitting beside the Asian boy.

Leon took the water he was handed "Thank." He nodded, taking a sip, letting the cool liquid fill his mouth and flow down his throat, refreshing him. He took a moment to dig in his pocket and bring out his phone "I should like… check time." Leon told him, unlocking the screen and looking at the time display "Damn… I should home…" he said, frowning a little "You can come tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. I go to the tea lounge a lot." Emil nodded "Gets me out of the house, and the coffee's cheap."

Leon smirked a little, because the coffee was hot chocolate, and he thought it was adorable that Emil couldn't even tell the difference, and honestly believed he was drinking coffee "I should call Ba…" Leon said after a moment "To pick me up."

Emil frowned a little. He didn't mean to, but the distance between his house, and Leon's was small, and anyone else could walk it easily "Yeah, good idea." He said, nodding.

"Cool stuff." Leon said, finding Yao in his contacts, and calling him. He spoke to the Chinese man in Cantonese meaning that Emil didn't have a clue as to what he was saying, but to be honest, unless he was paying close attention, English was hard to get his head around. Eventually he hung up the phone "Ba is here soon." He said, nodding.

"So… you want a kiss goodbye or something?" Emil suggested, feeling like that was the thing he was meant to do.

"Sure, why not?" Leon smiled a little, sipping his water again, before putting it down on the bedside table, leaning towards Emil, and closing his eyes.

Emil's lips were soft, and Leon liked that. It started out slow and tentative, slowly gaining depth and enthusiasm. It was wet, and heated, and felt good. He could feel Emil's hands sliding up his sides, smoothing up his t-shirt. Leon decided to put his hands on Emil's waist, so his hands were doing something, but to be honest, he didn't know what he was doing as much as Emil did.

After a few moments, Leon broke the kiss again, slightly out of breath, reaching for his inhaler, to take it quickly. As much as he wanted to be cool, and suave, Leon just wasn't. Nothing about him was cool, or suave, or even borderline cool or suave.

Lukas walked into the room after a moment "Hey, some guy's at the door asking for Leon?" he paused for a moment before gesturing towards the Asian boy "And I'm gonna assume that you _are_ Leon?"

Leon nodded "Yeah, that's me." Before standing up, and making sure his hair was a bit less of a mess from sleeping, before walking out of the room, followed by Emil, followed by Lukas.

At this point Leon and Yao started talking to each other in Cantonese, and so Emil and Lukas were completely clueless as to what was being said. After a moment, Leon turned to look at Emil again "I'll see you tomorrow, yes?"

Emil nodded "Yeah, I'll come into the shop."

"See you then." Leon walked out with Yao, to the car parked outside, getting in and taking his inhaler. Emil could see them talking, but didn't know what on earth they were talking about.

"He's a bit scrawny, isn't he?" Lukas commented, as he watched the car drive away "I thought you were into y'know, more muscular guys."

"I don't have a type like you do, Lukas, I just like who I like, and seriously, we're just friends."

"Yeah, and that's why he was just sleeping on your bed, all hugging you.

"You knew and then played dumb!?"

"Well duh."

"Oh my God, you're an actual dick! Like a real life penis!"

"Yeah yeah, I know, I'm _so_ terrible~"

They continued 'arguing' for a while. They weren't really fighting. This was just their weird way of showing affection to each other, because the both of them were bad at saying things like 'I love you' so they'd just insult each other, and argue.

"So when are you going out tomorrow?" Lukas asked, after they'd both tired of pointless arguing and name calling.

"Probably midday?" he said "Having Matthias over again?"

"Yeah, I'll ask him to come over at about then then." He said, nodding.

"Fair enough." Emil nodded "Tell me when it's safe to come home. The last thing I want to come home to is the sound of you two doing that…"

"That's why I give you money for the coffee shop." Lukas continued to nod.

"Yeah, that's where I met Leon, he works there, because his parents own it." Emil told him "It's complicated but that's the gist of it, I think."

"Fair enough, he could be a lot worse, so let's be thankful for that…"

"Hey! I have taste, you know, Lukas!" Emil argued, hearing the exasperation in the other's voice.

"Yes, yes, whatever…"

"I do!"

"He was ten years older than you."

"Lukas, drop it! Just drop it! Why do you keep bringing this up every time I meet someone?!" Emil started getting more and more worked up, his face red hot with anger and pain. He'd loved Lars, a lot. When Lukas found out about it, there was nothing that could be done to fix it. Lukas lost a friend, and Emil lost a lover. Lukas couldn't stand the idea of his little brother being taken advantage of like that.

"Then just let me look after you a little! I don't want you making bad decisions like that ever again, Emil!" Lukas himself was getting more and more worked up about it.

"I don't want you to look after me! I can look after myself just fine!" Tears were starting to bead up and run down his pink face, shining on his skin "You know what! I'm going out, I can't stand your fucking face right now! I hate you!" He didn't mean his words. He was angry and worked up. He slammed the front door behind himself, and just walked away from the house, instantly regretting it.

Lukas would have chased after the other, but he didn't want to exacerbate the problem any further than he needed to. Emil would come back after he calmed down, and Lukas would make him some fish for dinner, and they'd talk about things with a clearer head. Yeah…

Emil wasn't looking where he was going, his eyes on the pavement, staring at his feet as they made progress walking along the wet brickwork pavement. It was meant to be summer, and the holidays too. Wasn't he meant to be happy at this point? Also, it was summer, so what was with the rain? He hardly questioned that so much, as it was England, and of course it would be raining.

As he was walking, he walked into someone, mumbling a "sorry" as he did.

"It's no problem." He heard the person say, before recognising their voice and looking up at them. The Dutchman was standing in front of him, glancing down at him, before noticing it was him "Hey…" Was all he said, before noticing Emil's tear streaked face "What happened?"

"I-it's nothing." He hiccoughed "Lukas and I were arguing. He's such a dick, he never thinks of me!" he cried, resting his head in the other's chest, letting Lars pull him into a hug.

Lars knew he wasn't meant to even look at Emil, but the guy was crying his eyes out, and in his eyes, there was no excuse for not trying to comfort him "I'm sure that's not true…" Lars told him carefully "When we were friends, all he would ever talk about was you, so he's got to care about you at least a bit."

"Bullshit. He doesn't care. He just wants to upset me, and make me feel like a little piece of shit!" Emil hugged Lars tightly "He only think about himself, and his own selfish needs!"

"Emil, I'm sure that's not how it is…" Lars tried to explain. He knew Lukas well, and knew that Lukas loved Emil to pieces, and told him how hard it was to try and be a good brother to him, when neither of them were good at talking to each other.

"It is! I'm not going back there! I don't want to see his stupid face ever again."

"And where will you go instead?" Lars asked him, concerned for the other's safety "Don't you dare try and run away to live on the street."

"Why not!?"

"Because that would be a stupid thing to do. You'd get sick, cold, wet, hungry, and trust me, Emil, you wouldn't survive a day."

"I've got no-where else to go…" Emil continued to cry.

Lars sighed. Geez, this guy was so hard to reason with when he was upset. He was so irrational like this. This was just difficult. He hated it when he got like this, because he wanted so much to just make him feel better, but at the same time, he was so worked up, that he didn't want to listen to reason. He wanted to be told that Lukas was a bad person, and was wrong, and Lars couldn't do that, because he didn't believe Lukas was a bad person "Why don't you stay with me… until you feel better?" he let out a sigh of exasperation. He didn't want to go against Lukas like that, but at the same time, he didn't want to leave Emil feeling like this.

Emil nodded slowly "Yeah, that'd be nice…" he said, looking at the other.

"Come on then, I've got to pick up some eggs, and bacon, I'm making omelette for dinner." He told the other, taking his hand, and walking with him to the shop.

"Sounds nice… aren't you going to put anything else in it though?" Emil asked thinking of just a bacon omelette. It wouldn't be _so_ bad, but it would've been better with a couple of other ingredients.

"I've got some other things at home." He told him "Peppers, tomatoes, cheese, salt pepper what else does it need?"

"Sounds good to me." Emil nodded at him, as they walked into the shop, to pick up the items. It was a small newspaper shop, with just basics in it. It smelled of… something. He didn't know what, but it was just the smell of newsagents. There was a pick and mix in the corner, a rack with magazines, displaying partially naked women, and some fridges with drinks and basic food in. There were some biscuits on a shelf, and bread and other such good.

As they walked over to the counter, Emil noticed how his shoes tapped satisfyingly on the linoleum floor. It wasn't a particularly clean floor, but it wasn't grimy. If he dropped food on it, he'd throw it away, but he could walk bare foot on it, if he needed to.

After Lars paid, he walked out of the shop with Emil, and his food "How does your hair stay up..?" Emil mused quietly. It was raining, and his own hair was being slicked to his head, but Lars's hair was still styled to perfection, in that weird way he styled it.

"Magic~" he other joked, smirking "Nah, I just use a fuck tonne of hair gel, Emil."

"Doesn't that cost a load?" Emil asked him, thinking about how much hair gel Lars must've gotten through every year.

"That's why I buy it in bulk." Lars told him, nodding "It saves me a lot of money, and I get in good with the producers."

"Like number one customer?" Emil asked, interestedly.

"No, like I get loads of free trials, and shit like that." Lars told him as they reached his house "I should tell you I have a new bunny." Lars said, unlocking the door "He's pretty friendly."

"What's his name?" Emil asked, walking in, and taking his shoes off. He padded into the front room, seeing the new addition, and crouching to pet him.

"His name's Peter." Lars smiled, crouching beside him "Like Peter rabbit, also the neighbours have a son called Peter, so it's kind of funny."

Emil nodded smiling a bit "Sounds cool." He pet the bunny between the ears, his expression softening as he did. Lars smiled to himself. Bunnies always made people feel better. Who could resist the twitching noses, floppy ears, soft fur, and cute eyes?

"I'll go cook, I'll leave you in the company of Peter and Miffy." Lars said, standing up again.

Emil nodded watching the other walking into the kitchen, as he pet the small rodents. He cooed at them quietly using that voice he only used with small fluffy animals or his Pokémon on his 3DS. That feature with being able to interact with his Pokémon was one of his favourites.

A short while later, Lars walked out of the kitchen with two plates, and walked over to sit on the couch, patting the cushion beside him "Dinner is served." He told the white haired teen, who stood up from the floor carefully, and sat beside him on the couch, taking the plate of food, and starting to eat. The food was good, Emil had to admit that. It didn't look that promising, but it tasted just as it should have, in his opinion.

"So… where am I sleeping?" Emil asked after a while of silent eating.

"Where do you want to sleep, I guess?" Lars said, shrugging.

"Your bed's pretty comfy, isn't it…"Emil said sitting a little closer to the other. He'd missed Lars a lot. He'd missed being around him, and how his hugs felt and how his lips felt against his own. He'd missed the sex.

"Emil… do you think that's a good idea..?" Lars asked him "You know what your brother said…"

"Just once… for old time's sake." Emil said "I want to. I've missed you."

Lars sighed. He wished he could just say no to him, and not make things more complicated, but Emil was offering himself up, directly "Are you really sure..?" The Dutchman asked. Of course he wanted to do it. He still loved Emil a lot, even after all this time.

"Yeah, I want to." Emil said, placing his plate on the sofa, to move and straddle the other's lap, kissing him. Everything was forgotten, and had escaped his mind. Thoughts of Lukas disappeared, thoughts of Leon were gone; thoughts about collage were left behind. He wanted it. He wanted Lars.

And so the evening went on, and he was satisfied lying in the afterglow sleepily, Emil smiled at Lars "Do you still love me?" He asked, laying on his side.

"That is a big question to be asking me, this late in the evening." Lars mumbled "You _know_we can't be together, Emil, your brother…"

"Yeah, and there's a guy I met today and he seems nice…" Emil told him "He's called Leon. He's my age, and kinda cute…"

"That's pretty good." Lars said "Do you want to be with him?" He asked.

"I don't know… I think we're a thing, but it was very uncertain…" Emil said, feeling guilty now for having slept with Lars, when he and Leon had only just met, he'd just not thought of it.

"Fair enough…" Lars said. God, this was complicated. He loved Emil a lot, sure, but this relationship wouldn't be good for him. He needed to give Emil some direction, to make a choice. He wanted Emil and Lukas to stop fighting, and for Emil to get with someone his own age, and be in a healthy relationship, instead of something secret like this.

"Emil… I need to tell you something." Lars said slowly. He hated himself for saying this, because it would break Emil's heart into a million pieces, but it would make Lukas seem like the good guy, and Emil would finally be able to move on.

"What is it?" Why was it whenever someone said that to him, his stomach always tied itself into knots.

"I don't love you…" he started keeping his eyes looking into Emil's, no matter how much it hurt to lie to him "I never did… I was using you… for your body." He said, a burning guilt in his throat "Emil, I'm a pedophile."

"Y-you're joking right! That's so funny, ha ha." Emil said, nervousness being conveyed in his voice.

"No… it's true." Lars told him.

"Then why are you saying this now!?" Emil exclaimed, shuffling away from Lars quickly.

"Because I don't want to lie anymore." Lars told him, holding his gaze, his expression unchanging. He was breaking down inside, seeing the disgust and fear in Emil's face as he started to cry again.

"You bastard! I can't believe you! You _used_ me! How can you live with yourself! How could you do this to me!? How could you do this!? All those times you were just lying! I thought I meant something to you! But no, I was just your sick perverted game, wasn't I!?" Emil was crying now, pulling on his clothes quickly "I hate you! I wish I never met you! You're a sick bastard, and I regret ever trusting you! I hope you rot in hell!" He stormed out of the house, starting to run back home, tears flowing down his hot face.

He didn't want to admit it, but Lukas was right. He should have trusted his judgment. This was awful. He felt so used so _dirty_ he wanted to scrub his skin off to try and undo everything Lars did to him, every touch, he wanted to take back every loving word, every kiss, and every moan. He felt sick to his stomach.

Reaching his home he rang the doorbell frantically sobbing, and throwing himself into Lukas's arms as soon as the other opened the door, sobbing onto him , as the other closed the door, before putting his arms around him tightly, stroking his back, suddenly so, so concerned "Emil… what happened?" He asked, trying to get some sense out of the other.

"You were right about everything!" he sobbed "I hate him, I hate his guts! I never want anyone to touch me again!"

"E-emil, tell me what happened, right now." Lukas said, feeling a surge of shock and concern run through him, holding the other "What happened!?"

"He-he lied to me! He was using me for my body Lukas!" Emil sobbed.

"Lars!? Emil… what did you do..?" Lukas wished he'd never met Lars. He knew that guy was nothing but trouble to his little brother.

"I found him outside a shop," He told him, between hiccoughs "a-and he took me to his house, and made me something to eat, and then… I was so stupid! I shouldn't have trusted him!"

"You slept with him?" Lukas asked holding the other closer.

"Y-yeah… and then after… when I was lying next to him, he told me…" Emil continued to sob on him "He told me he wouldn't lie anymore. A-and that he never loved me! He used me, Lukas! I can't believe I let him do that!"

"It's okay…" Lukas told him, holding him closer, not even trying with the 'I-told-you-so's. It wouldn't make anything better.

"I-I just want to scrub my skin off, I feel so _dirty_ Lukas!" he sobbed.

"It's okay, it's okay." Lukas told him quietly "Why don't we sit down, hm?" he asked, pulling away a little, to see his little brother's tear streaked, puffy red face nodding gently. Lukas led him over to the sofa, sitting beside him, and putting an arm around Emil, who was still crying, but had finally managed to calm down a little.

"I should have listened to you…" Emil told him, his voice little over a whisper "I should have listened to everything you said…"

"It's okay, Emil…" Lukas told him softly, stroking his hair gently "We all make mistakes. You needed to find out for yourself is all."

"Yeah… I guess…" Emil leaned against him.

"You know what happens to little brothers who are crying~?" Lukas said with a slight smirk on his face. He used to do this a lot when Emil cried as a child.

"No… Lukas don't…" Emil started shuffling away from him, trying to hold back a smile. That was when Lukas pounced on him, and started tickling him "Lukas! No!" Emil squealed, kicking his legs in protest, as he started laughing.

"Why would I stop now, when you're smiling so much~?" Lukas grinned back at Emil, still tickling him.

"Lukas stop, I'm gonna piss myself!" he squealed again, batting his hands away.

"Fine, fine~" Lukas smiled, pulling back from his brother.

"Revenge!" Emil pounced at his brother, returning fire on him, causing the other to squawk with laughter.

"Nooo!" he was grinning, flailing his legs about "Emil, no! I'll make you your favourite fish if you stop! And I'll buy you some liquorice too!"

Emil grinned at him "The good kind?"

"Of course the good kind, now stop tickling me!" Lukas begged.

Emil pulled back, grinning at his brother "Okay then, hop to it~" he said "We have some salmon in the fridge~"

Lukas sat up, smiling at the other glad to see him feeling better "Why don't you take a shower while I make it?" he asked.

"Sounds good."

**Hello people! Happy end of chapter! That was pretty dramatic huh~ I'll write some more as soon as I have the time! I hope you enjoyed this! I know there was not much HongIce in this story but there was a lot of plot and other important things to be considered in it~**

**Question time!**

**Will Emil tell Leon, and if he does, how will Leon react?**

**Will that be the last we see of Lars?**

**What will happen when Emil meets Leon's family properly?**

**What do you guys actually think about Lars? (I think he's kind of controversial… I mean he's trying to be a good person, but still…)**

**What will Lukas do?**


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